Rhubarb Custard Tea Cake

24 March 2012

An impressive rhubarb tea cake with a custard layer baked in the centre of the cake.

My parents used to sell a cake in their bakery which was made of two brioche-like sponges, sandwiched together with a thick, bright yellow custard and sprinkled on top with flaked almonds. This vanilla-rich cake was called a Bee-Sting, a funny name for a cake which I didn’t think much about as a child, preferring to concentrate my efforts on how many slices I could eat before my mum would put the remaining slices out on the counter to sell. Thinking now about the name, I can only laugh out loud at what it might imply!

When I first flicked through The Cake Stall by The Australian Women’s Weekly, I came across this recipe for Rhubarb Custard Tea Cake and was instantly reminded of the Bee-Sting. But unlike the Bee-Sting where the custard is added after the cake is baked, here, the custard layer is baked as part of the cake, producing a wonderfully layered cake straight from the oven. I couldn’t wait to try this recipe but first had to wait for rhubarb to come into season. And when I spotted the bright pink stems at the supermarket recently, I knew that I had a treat in store.

Being an Australian Women’s Weekly recipe, this cake is fairly easy to put together, not least because the custard is made using custard powder, an ingredient which is also incorporated into the cake batter to provide some colour (yellow), add flavour (vanilla) and also create lightness (from the cornflour). I used Bird’s custard powder in this recipe, but you could use any brand you like.

Although the recipe stipulates 300 g (about 4 stalks) of rhubarb, I found that I barely used one stalk. My husband would be the first to tell you that maths is not my strong point, and I couldn’t for the life of me work out how to fit more rhubarb onto the cake, particularly if I was using the photo in the book as a guide. I guess one could squeeze in more rhubarb on top of the cake, with the prerequisite of some geometry skills. The rhubarb shrinks ever so slightly on baking but more or less keeps its shape.

The cake itself tastes delicious and is sure to impress at any afternoon tea party. I was relieved to find that the custard layer was firm upon slicing, yet with still enough wobble to provide a contrasting texture to the cake. Though I can’t help but feel that the cake could have benefitted from some more rhubarb, perhaps as an additional layer above the custard. Maybe I’ll try that next time. For now, I’m super-pleased with this recipe and would happily make it again.

Instructions

First, make the custard by mixing together the custard powder and caster sugar in a small saucepan. Whisk in the milk and bring the pan to the boil, stirring frequently. The mixture will start to thicken very quickly and, when it does, take the pan off the heat. Whisk in the butter and vanilla extract. Place some clingfilm directly onto the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming and leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

Cream the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy.

Beat in one egg at a time, together with a tablespoon of the flour to help it all come together.

Add the remaining flour, baking powder and custard powder, and mix well. The batter will be quite thick because there is no liquid, but it should still be spreadable.

Line the bottom of a 20 cm (8 inch) springform cake tin with baking paper and grease the sides of the tin.

Use a small spatula to spread half of the batter in the cake tin. Remember that it is a thick batter so you will have to make sure that it covers all of the surface.

Spread the custard over the cake mixture.

Dollop spoonfuls of the remaining cake batter over the custard and carefully spread the cake batter to completely cover the custard. Again, a small spatula works well here.

Chop the rhubarb into 10 cm lengths and slice them lengthwise, about 1 cm thick.

Arrange the rhubarb as in the photo, trimming them where necessary.

Brush the top of the cake with melted butter and sprinkle generously with granulated sugar.

Bake for about 1 1/2 hour. Remove the cake from the tin and cool on a wire rack.

Nutrition

Serving Size:8

Calories:442

Sugar:22.8g

Sodium:50.9mg

Fat:28.5g

Carbohydrates:42.8g

Fiber:0.8g

Protein:5.3g

Cholesterol:131.5mg

Rhubarb Custard Tea Cake … the long way

If custard powder is not available where you live, I would suggest replacing the custard powder in the cake batter with an equal quantity of cornflour (cornstarch) plus a teaspoon or two of vanilla extract. For the custard layer in the cake, I would suggest making a custard from scratch using cornflour (cornstarch) as a thickener.

The following is a recipe which I have tried and tested, producing an equally-delicious cake. You won’t have the same bright yellow colour in both the cake and custard, but this version is certainly much more elegant, owing in part to the pale yellow custard which is flecked with vanilla seeds.

As a slight variation to the cake above, and in an attempt to squeeze more rhubarb into the cake, this time I sliced the rhubarb into 1 cm pieces and arranged them on top of the cake before sprinkling with granulated sugar. The result is a much more rustic-looking cake than the previous version, but it still looked and tasted delicious.

A Few Notes

Thank you to those who have tried this wonderful cake and have left some valuable feedback. Your comments are always much appreciated, both for me and other readers who would like to try this recipe.

When making this cake, please bear in mind that, because the batter does not contain any liquid, it will be quite thick but it should still be spreadable. So rather than pouring the batter into the cake tin as you would usually, here, you will be spooning and dolloping the mixture into the tin, coaxing it with a small spoon or spatula to make it cover the area of the tin. The stiff batter had me a little worried when I first made the cake, but I was pleasantly surprised by how it turned out. Though, I shouldn’t have been surprised since the recipes by the Australian Women’s Weekly are triple-tested!

So don’t be too alarmed if your batter is thicker than your usual cake batter. Trust that it will work out in the end 🙂

When applying the batter on top of the custard, one trick is to dollop small spoonfuls across the surface, and to then use a small spoon or spatula to join up each dollop before evening out the layer. This is much easier than dolloping half the batter onto the custard and trying to spread it out!

Despite these tips to handle the thick batter, this recipe is rather simple to follow and I hope you will give it a try 🙂

Another delicious recipe

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If you have made this dish, I would love to hear how it turned out! Please leave a comment below and share your photos by tagging @eatlittlebird on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, and using #eatlittlebird

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141 Comments

Hi Amber! Well, if there was ever a good use for that tub of custard powder … 😉 I usually only use custard powder for a few recipes and was happy to use the generous amounts required for this one. It was well worth it!

Oh I do hope you will come across some rhubarb soon! I’m having a lot of fun at the moment using it in different recipes, though I suppose this cake would also work with another fruit topping, something I will keep in mind when rhubarb is no longer in season.

Oh thank you, Carrie! I’ve gone a bit crazy with rhubarb lately but this is my last splurge, and thankfully it was well worth it 🙂 I have a friend in your neck of the woods who is also on the lookout for rhubarb – hopefully there is a fresh supply somewhere!

That’s about the Swiss price for rhubarb! It’s a bit of a splurge, even by Swiss standards, but I’m justifying it on the basis that it’s an occasional treat.

And I agree about the colours – the pink from the rhubarb is really surprising in this cake. We had friends over this evening for coffee and they were somewhat curious about the pink topping on this cake and were pleasantly surprised when they found it was rhubarb.

Wow I thought this was a special tin you had Thanh to create the beautiful “individual portion” look to the top of the cake, can’t believe how perfect it has come out just putting the rhubarb on the top. I’ve never had rhubarb but I think I’ve found the recipe to try it with 😉

Oh Thanh I just put your cake in t’oven annoy I realised far too late I forgot the baking powder – waaaaa! Abd my vanilla extract turned the Big Bird yellow of the custard muddy yellow plus it seemed like there was not enough batter and it was so stiff, I couldn’t spread it over the custard completely :'(. Am so gutted – I just hope it comes out edible!

Phew! It looks good if half the size it should be. Oh well, it will be more pudding than tea cake but next time I’ll be sure to put the baking powder in! Looking through all the reviews here I might pipe the mixture next time too though once baked, the batter did join up to cover the custard in all but one teeny spot! Xxx

Oh shame about the baking powder but from what I’ve seen on your FB page, the cake turned out beautifully!! It might taste a bit dense without the baking powder, but hopefully still delicious 🙂

Perhaps some brands of vanilla extract might muddy the custard and you could possibly leave it out, considering that the custard powder has vanilla flavouring in it. I rather like the Big Bird yellow colour 🙂

I’ve updated the recipe above to mention that it is a thick batter. It was something that got me a bit nervous the first time I made it, but it worked out perfectly that I didn’t give it a second thought the second time around. So the batter is not like your usual, runny cake batter, but something quite thick that you have to coax to cover the cake tin. This perhaps explains why the cake is somewhat crumbly upon slicing, but I think the batter needs to be thickish so that you can achieve these lovely layers.

Thanks for giving this recipe a go and I hope your colleagues will enjoy the cake 🙂

Hi Pamela! Indeed, I love the AWW! I know the talk these days is all about cookbooks which have character and stories behind each recipe, but sometimes all you want is just a simple recipe, and the AWW do simple recipes really well. I loved this particular book the moment I picked it up and there are still quite a few more recipes I want to try.

Hi Rachel! Oh that’s so sweet of you to think of your mam. It would be so satsifying to make a cake like this with rhubarb you have either grown or collected yourself. Please let me know if you manage to use more rhubarb in the cake than I did!

[…] My parents used to sell a cake in their bakery which was made of two brioche-like sponges, sandwiched together with a thick, bright yellow custard and sprinkled on top with flaked almonds. This vanilla-rich cake was called a Bee-Sting, a funny name for a cake which I didn’t think much about as a child, preferring to concentrate my efforts on how many slices I could eat before my mum would put the remaining slices out on the counter to sell. Thinking now about the name, I can only laugh out loud at what it might imply! Rhubarb Custard Tea Cake — eat, little bird […]

Thank you! How lucky you are to have rhubarb in your garden. I was tempted to grow some on our balcony but the guy at the nursery told me that it would be a year or two before the plant would grow rhubarb that was actually edible. Not to mention that I would need a massive pot to make it worthwhile! I hope you will find good uses for your homegrown rhubarb 🙂

Thank you!! A friend of mine recently mentioned making custard and thought about mixing in some rhubarb, which sounded absolutely delicious. It reminded me of this cake and the combination is indeed lovely.

WOW Creme, this cake is sooooo beautiful its rediculous! I could not stop starring at it! You did a beautiful job of it, trully, and the photos do it justice! Mum is in London for a few days, so far I have asked for jars of Stem Ginger and Morello Cherries, am now thinking of adding Bird’s eye Custard, as I keep reading that it is the best! We have custard powder here off course, but….The Rhubbarbs here are as Caroline described them. People don’t really know what they are, so they go limp, and the supermarket are not encouraged to get anymore….I did splurge on a good bit a few years back, if I find good ones again, I might just go ahead and get them and make this cake for my lovely Dad who introduced me to Rhubarb and loves a piece of cake with his ‘no sugar, no milk’ afternoon coffee ‘I get all that from the cake’ he says. He is right! Again WOW!

Hi Sam!! Oh I’m glad you like the look of this cake It does look pretty fancy, doesn’t it? And especially since that’s how it looked coming straight out of the oven! Although the original recipe called for 4 stalks of rhubarb, I only managed to use 1 stalk (weighing about 100 g), so I suppose a good thing about this cake is that it doesn’t require too much of that expensive and exotic rhubarb. The cake disappeared in less than a day and I’m wondering if I should make it again from the leftover rhubarb?!

I love having a tub of Bird’s Custard Powder in the cupboard, though it only has a few outings a year, I’m afraid. I use it mostly to make Nigella’s Custard Cream Hearts but am always on the lookout for more ways to use it. I don’t think you will regret asking your mum to squeeze a tub into her suitcase 😉

Oh my gosh, this cake looks amazing!!! I’m on a real rhubarb bent at the moment, so I’m definitely going to bookmark this to try. It just looks so pretty and I love that layer of custard baked into the cake.

LOL! I’m also going a bit crazy with rhubarb at the moment but, thankfully, my husband is not sick of it yet! I also think it’s an impressive-looking cake, all the more because it’s pretty easy to put together, and you don’t have to do anything further to it once you take it out of the oven! I think the idea of baking the custard layer into the cake is genius – I’m definitely going to experiment with this more.

Rhubarb and custard – one of those “takes me back” flavour combinations ! I know if I made this I’d be tempted to use more rhubarb too – but in my case I’d probably sacrifice the beautiful appearance and symmetry in order to crowd more in !

Haha! Although the rhubarb in this cake looks striking the way it is, I might try next time to cut it up into small pieces and to just cover the top of the cake with it. Might have to sacrifice a bit on looks to get more taste 😉

Ok, Mum is back from London, she got the Stem Ginger, could not find Morello Cherries and hurt her knee and could not walk properly by the time I thought of asking for the Bird Eye Custard! So Question: Can one make custard from scratch and spread it on as a layer or does it have to be a powdered custard for some reason? Thx Creme! This cake is making waves! 😉

Oh shame that your mum injured herself while on holidays! I hope she is doing better now.

I think you could definitely make the custard from scratch for this cake and it might even be a better cake for it 🙂 I would make a custard that is thickened with cornflour (Nigella has a recipe for Quick Foolproof Custard in How to Eat) – it should be quite thick such that it holds its shape and is not at all runny.

The cake sponge also uses 1/2 cup of custard powder. I would try substituting this with 1/2 cup of cornflour plus a teaspoon or two of vanilla extract.

Please let me know if you do try this alternative version – I am confident that it would work but am nevertheless curious to find out!

I’ve just updated my post above with a custard recipe which I have tested for you tonight 🙂 The recipe produces a nice thick and sweet custard which I think would be perfect for this cake. Although you won’t have the same bright yellow, it is instead a lovely pale yellow flecked with black vanilla seeds. Knowing your sense of style, this elegant custard might be a better fit for you 🙂

I love the look of this cake, & am trying it as I write, just waiting for the custard to cool!
The only change I have made is to use a circle of wet baking paper in place of the cling film.
I will be reporting back!

I just made the cake and waiting for it to cool slightly so I can remove it from the springform pan. The only problem I encountered was trying to spread the batter on the paper in the cake pan. Any suggestions? I Might try piping it from a pastry bag and then gently spreading. Same with the dollops on top, although very gently on that did the trick. The cake looks absolutely great and can’t wait to have my friends taste it. Thanks for the recipe and looking forward to more from your website. Theresa in Michigan

Hi Theresa! I’m thrilled to read that you tried this cake! I hope you and your friends will enjoy it. May I ask if you made it with the custard powder or without?

I also encountered the same problem as you when trying to spread out the cake batter in the pan when it was lined, especially since the batter is quite thick. But spreading it slowly with a small spatula did the trick. The second time I made the cake, I didn’t line the sides of the cake tin, only the bottom. You can compare the “before” photos above. This made it much easier to spread the cake and the cake came out of the tin with no problem.

I must tell you the cake was a huge success. My friends and I loved it. It sliced beautifully and tasted great! I lined only the bottom of the cake pan. I used Bird’s custard powder which I purchased in Stratford, Ontario. I had both the instant and the regular, but used the regular. The custard came out great, too. I had never made a cake with the custard baked right in. I will definitely make the cake again. It was a little bit of spring and sunshine at the table. Thanks again.

Oh I’m so happy to hear that the cake was a success!! Both times when I made the cake, I found it to be fairly easy to put together, which is somewhat of a surprise for such an impressive looking cake. I’m so glad that you and your friends loved it! It’s quite a relevation to bake a cake with the custard layer inside and I’m certainly going to experiment with this more. Many thanks again for popping back to let me know how it went 🙂

A very nice cake, & unusual with the custard layer, although my husband also said it could have done with more rhubarb – I did the first version.
Not as pretty as yours as my rubarb didn’t sink as much – my fault though as I almost cocked it up!
The batter seemed very stiff, & on checking my scales found the battery was going & it wasn’t working properly so I added another egg to loosen it up.
Certainly didn’t seem to affect the flavour and we really enjoyed it, thank you!

The batter is indeed quite thick and stiff, something which surprised me but, then again, there is no liquid in the cake batter so I had to trust the recipe. But I’m glad to hear that an extra egg didn’t affect the cake at all and that it still tasted great!

I think the first attempt of any recipe is always trial and error. I actually thought that the rhubarb in my first cake sunk too much! For both cakes, I was worried that the rhubarb would sink completely, owing to the thick batter which I could feel would rise a bit on baking. But thankfully, both cakes worked out well.

Thank you for letting me know how this cake turned out for you! I always appreciate feedback when readers have tried a recipe I have posted 🙂

I will have to try this out soon! By the way, can you buy double cream in Switzerland? There is no double cream here (in the Netherlands) so I just use the single cream. Do you have any suggestion for the replacement?

I use “Vollrahm” in Switzerland whenever a recipe calls for double cream. A Dutch friend (thanks Joost!) has just told me that he uses “slagroom” in the Netherlands as an alternative to double cream. It apparently has a consistency between single cream and double cream and works perfectly as a substitute for double cream. Hope this helps you!

I just want to say I made this cake, followed the recipe to a T and came out the other end with a beautiful, vibrant and delicious cake! I used the first version with the Custard Powder and now plan on making it this way many times more (gotta finish hat tin of Custard Powder!!!). Many thanks Creme for introducing us to this Gem!!!!

Sam, your cake looked so beautiful and I’m so glad that everyone enjoyed it 🙂 It is a gem of a recipe, isn’t it? And I’m so glad to have shared one with you considering all of the wonderful recipes you have shared with me in the past. I still make Delia’s pesto rice salad regularly and think of you (and our wedding) everytime I do 🙂

Did you see Jodie’s version of this cake? She made it using sliced apples instead of rhubarb and sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on top of the cake, I think. Now that is a version I can’t wait to try! Another way to use up that custard powder 😉

Thank you! It’s rather fun to bake with custard powder – there’s something so old-fashioned about using this ingredient. And it indeed adds a lovely yellow to your cakes, not to mention a lovely vanilla flavour too.

[…] the last few months, my kitchen has seen countless jars of Rhubarb Compote, a few servings of Rhubarb Custard Tea Cake, as well as an assortment of other baked goodies (such as Nigella Lawson’s Rhubarb Muffins […]

[…] and Pikelets I have posted about previously. Well, Thanh has only gone and done it again. The Rhubarb and Custard Cake she featured from an Australian Women’s Weekly book, is a pretty, perfectly self-dividing […]

Thanh, I baked this cake and blogged about it. It was fantastic! Gone in two days, with multiple servings per person (umm including myself..arhem…)!! I used the second, DIY custard recipe and that worked to perfection. I only wish I doubled up that custard recipe! I could have dived into the pan, mouth open!

Carrie, your cake looks absolutely beautiful!! And I loved that you played around with the custard and used coconut cream for a totally exotic flavour – something which I must try asap!

And thank you so much for featuring this cake on your gorgeous blog – it’s always a pleasure when someone reports back on a recipe which I have posted, and it’s even more of an honour to have someone as talented as you blog about it 🙂

its rhubarb time here in Maine and I stockpile custard powder wherever I find it for proper ( ie Australian!) sponge cakes. So I am very excited to try this wonderful-looking cake. And thank you for both the pikelets recipes as well as the one for meat pies, I will be having a little home-sick cooking fest this week. All I need now though is a proper Australian scone recipe! Do you have one you could share with us ex-pats?

Funnily enough, I’ve been thinking about posting my favourite scone recipe, so watch this space shortly 🙂 Not sure if it is a “proper” Aussie scone recipe, but it’s one which has worked for me over and over.

And I have been craving pikelets lately so I am planning on making them for afternoon tea tomorrow. I think the recipe from Stephanie Alexander is just unbeatable.

Hope this spot of cooking and baking will put away those feelings of home-sickness 🙂

[…] I discovered the blog Eat Little Bird a while back and have been smitten since. I chanced upon the blog when I was looking for a great yellow cake recipe. I was sick of my vanilla cakes looking kind of Tilda Swinton-ish. You know, kind of like pale meringue. (I love Tilda the actress, by the way. No one could have played the White Witch better!) I saw my friend Deepthi’s post about adding custard powder to get a perfect sponge cake, and further googling brought me to this wonderful Rhubarb Custard Tea Cake at Eat Little Bird. […]

I made it yesterday and it was delicious – next time though I thought I would add a layer of stewed rhubarb (with the liquid cooked down) beneath the custard – then I could keep the beautiful linear top and have the extra rhubarby taste ! It would also be lovely with a topping of halved peaches or nectarines – or raspberries

Hi Anne,
Thank you for your feedback! I also felt that this cake could benefit from some extra rhubarb squeezed in somewhere, and a layer beneath the custard sounds perfect! I agree that this cake would also be lovely with other fruit toppings. Someone made it with sliced apples and cinnamon which sounds like a winning combination to me, but some summery fruits like peaches and nectarines, or even winter plums, would also be beautiful here. I’m glad you enjoyed this cake!

wow! I’ve just stumbled across this while doing some internet food lusting on Pinterest. It looks utterly delicious, I love using custard powder in cake batter so this looks quite up my street! You’re photography is wonderful xxxxx

Fab cake! As I was spreading it into the tin I felt there just wasn’t quite enough actual ‘cake’ to it, though, so I did 50% more mix. And thinned it out with two tablespoons of milk. Very happy with the results and it went down an absolute storm.

I am so excited to try this recipe, I love rhubarb and there just aren’t enough recipes out ther that appreciate its wonderfulness like this one. I also think your presentation of the recipes in both versions is so lovely and easy to follow. Congratulations you have a real winner here! Thank you for sharing.

Thank you, Carol! I’m pleased to hear that you think both recipes are easy to follow. This cake certainly shows off the rhubarb really well and it has always received lots of compliments each time I have made it. As you may have noticed from some of the comments above, some have tried adding milk to the batter to loosen it a little. This seems to work quite well, though I have only ever made it as per the recipe which has worked perfectly for me too. I hope you will get to try this recipe soon.

Carrie from The Patterned Plate had left a comment above to say that she made this cake using custard made from scratch (i.e. the second the recipe provided in this post). You can read about her findings here. Hope this helps!

LOL! I hope you’re enjoying your visit to my blog 🙂 This recipe is a real winner, especially if you are a fan of rhubarb. If you have a quick read of some of the comments above, you will see that some readers have made their own variations to this recipe using other fruits. I tried a version with apple and cinnamon and it was so delicious! But I can’t wait for rhubarb to be in season again.

Hi Thanh,
This cake is so gorgeous, I had to try it. I made the custard from scratch instead of using custard powder, and used pears instead of rhubarb. It was awfully delicious! Again, thanks for all these inspiring posts!
Marie

Was looking for a new cake to try that didn’t involve chocolate or icing or a family lunch and this one looks fantastic! Just popped it into the oven and can’t wait to see if it turns out. The rhubarb at the shops was soft and looked awful so used apple and pear on top instead…fingers crossed!

I made this last week (and am about to blog it too, with all credits to you!). I really liked it, although stupidly overbaked it a bit so it didn’t look quite as pretty as yours! I made the custard a bit thick too (heavy handed tablespooning..!). Anyway, my hint would be to grab the second half of batter in your hands (dampen your hands first) and mould it to fit the cake tin, then you can just plonk it in on top of the custard. The mix is too thick to spread out, so this worked well for me. If I made it again I’d probably add another egg though as I found it was quite a dense cake and another egg might lighten it a bit – what do you think? I’ve just seen someone else made it with apples too… mmm!

I’ve seen custard powder in the supermarkets in the US, so I think it should be readily available where you are. Hopefully you will find it in the baking aisle.

However, the brand I recommend is a British brand, called Bird’s Custard Powder. It is available in some selected stores in the US or you might be able to find it online, such as here on Amazon. If some other readers see your query, hopefully they can also help. Good luck!

This cake is to die for !!
We don’t often see rhubarb for sale in South Africa, so, having pinned this recipe, for visual yumminess, I finally found some.
What an absolute success ! – I read all the comments, and made some adjustments ….. increased the ingredients by a third, stewed most of the rhubarb, with sugar, drained it very well, and added it below the custard level. The remaining rhubarb, I cut in small pieces, and scattered over the top – I did add milk to the batter mix, to make it more flexible – still just dropped in in spots and joined it up with a spatula. Took photos for my FB page … wish I could send them to you.

Hi Mary,
Thank you for your wonderful feedback! I’m always interested to read how others have adapted this recipe and I like how you added stewed rhubarb below the custard. I can only imagine that the cake would have tasted scrumptious! Thank you for sharing your experiences with this recipe.

You are always welcome to either email the photos to me or send me a message through Facebook 🙂

I made this last night for a colleague’s birthday as he loves rhubarb… And even though I managed to over bake it and slightly burn the top, it was a huge hit and disappeared in no time. I posted a photo on facebook and have never had so many people ask for a recipe! So have directed lots of people here. Thanks for posting a great recipe and for such a beautiful blog/website.

I’m not too sure as I don’t usually freeze cakes. My guess might be no because the rhubarb may not defrost well (it might be soggy afterwards?), but I’m not too sure. The cake keeps well for a few days on a covered cake stand, if that helps.

Thanks for your reply. I have decided not to freeze this time but may try a mini version at some point and freeze that to see the results.
My first attempt and R and C cake is now int oven ,fingers crossed .

I made this amazing cake yesterday for my little boys school fair. I found the instructions easy to follow and the results were great! I added an additional layer of rhubarb above the layer of custard, as I love rhubarb. This worked really well. To finish the cake off. I crystallised some pink rose petals and sprinkled some crushed rhubarb and custard boiled sweets around the cake. I thought it looked pretty amazing! However I received last place in the ‘best of British’ cake competition at the school fair and a royal icing tennis themed cake won! Obviously it didn’t appeal to the school kids, but I had some great feedback from a few parents. It won’t put me off making it again! Thanks for the recipe.

Thank you for your feedback! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, but shame that you received last place 🙁 Were the kids judging the cakes? If so, I guess what they find appealing can be quite different to adults! But I’m glad you enjoyed this cake as that what counts most 🙂

My attempt didn’t turnout too brilliantly. I was entering it in a comp but made it 2 days ahead. I didn’t freeze it and it had to deal with extremely hot weather ! It started out not looking too pretty and looked a bit grim before judging -it was also quite dry . It did get third prize so it tasted quite nice. I need to make it again under normal eating conditions !

Oh dear! Are you located in the UK? If so, I’m guessing that you used the normal green & red rhubarb which is currently available. This doesn’t have the same vibrancy as forced rhubarb (the hot pink variety) which is available for only a short window and is what I used for this cake in the photos. So the type of rhubarb used might affect the overall presentation of the cake, but it should still taste great 🙂 If you found the cake to be on the dry side, you could add a teaspoon or so of milk to the batter (as some readers above have done) to make it a softer cake. But I’m glad you tried this cake and, hey, third place is pretty darn good!!!

I’m going to attempt this cake for a Yorkshire themed Clandestine Cake Club tomorrow with some yummy Yorkshire rhubarb, I can’t wait to see how it comes out, I think I might try adding an extra layer of rhubarb too! I also make an apple crumble cake on a regular basis so I might try adding a custard layer in too! Thanks for sharing this recipe 🙂

Good luck and have fun with this recipe! I have received such wonderful feedback about this cake, especially about the tweaks and changes people have made to the recipe. I hope it will be a delightful feast at the cake club!

Hi! I tried this cake today (Long version) and it turned out great! I had some difficulties with the custard, since I didn’t understand that by cornflour you really meant cornstach and used therefore actual cornflour 😉 i made 1 1/2 of the recipe since I used a 26cm tin, baked it during 1h and 25 minutes and it was a beautiful cake, High like on your photos! Thanks for sharing this recipe, I’ll use it again, only with à little less butter (300g was a lot! 250g might be enough) and cornstach, i’m sure it will be perfect then!

Glad you enjoyed this recipe 🙂 And thanks for sharing your recipe adjustments for using a larger cake tin. I’m sure other readers will find this helpful.

What is called “cornstarch” in the US is known as “cornflour” in Australia and the UK. I try to mention the American names in my recipes where possible but, as I am not an American, I don’t know them all and may forget from time to time. If I don’t mention the American names in the recipe itself, I always try to do so in the accompanying notes (which I did here). Another tricky element is that not all of the readers here speak English as their native language, so to mention both cornflour and cornstarch in a recipe could give rise to confusion to non-native English speakers because they are not the same thing. So I often default to the Australian/UK terms, especially if it is a recipe from an Australian or British author. Sharing a recipe is more difficult than it seems! 😉

This cake looks amazing! I’m from the US so I have a few questions. What is caster sugar? I’m going to try to find custard powder but in case I can not, what is double cream? I can’t wait to make this, thank you!

Hi Amy,
Caster sugar is superfine sugar. If you can’t find superfine sugar, you can use normal granulated sugar, but just make sure it is creamed well with the butter until you can’t feel any grains of sugar.

You can definitely find custard powder in the US, but maybe not Bird’s custard powder which is a British brand. I’m sure other brands of custard powder will work well in this recipe.

As for double cream, I think it is called heavy cream or whipping cream in the US. Look for the fat content on the carton – you want something with 35% to 48% fat. The cream should have a pouring consistency.

Wow. What a pretty looking rhubarb cake!!!! As soon as I saw the picture, I had to try it. I did the long way version and the custard looked a bit runny so I added another tea spoon of corn flour. The cake looked and tasted amazing! This will be my go-to rhubarb cake recipe for sure. Thank you so much 🙂

I had never heard of custard powder but requested friends from England bring some with them during their most recent visit. At the moment I am out of rhubarb but blueberries are in season so I topped it with generous berries and it turned out beautifully!

I had this cake in a bakery in Invermere, B.C. and I fell in love with it. Since I have rhubarb in my back yard, I’m always looking for something to make with it. The cake batter is just too thick, some liquid needs to be added in order for it to be spreadable. Managed to spread the bottom layer with the parchment paper moving around, but forget about the top layer. Dollops had to do. It’s in the oven, so I’ll see whether it’s worth it, and if it is, will add something to make is spreadable next time.

Hi Linda,
I think you are referring to custard powder (not custard flour). I’ve seen it sold in supermarkets in the US and it is essentially a powder to make instant custard. The brand of custard powder which I am familiar with using is called Bird’s, which is available through some retailers in the US.

If custard powder is not available where you live, hopefully you will give the long version of this recipe a try. It’s definitely worth it 🙂

Hi ya,
A fellow Vietnamese (growing up in the UK) here. I made your cake today, but with pineapple, and homemade pineapple curd. I think I overbaked it just a bit. The cake is quite dry. But the combination is beautiful. Gonna go out to get some pineapples and make it again. This time with a super thick layer of pineapple curd and a nice layer of pineapple on top of the curd as well ;).

Love the sound of using pineapple in this cake! Sounds delicious. If you find the batter quite dry, you could loosen it with a bit of milk or even pineapple juice. The cake is supposed to have a bit of crumb but it is quite versatile if you wish to change the texture a bit. But overbaking it will, of course, make it more dry. Thanks for your feedback!

I have made this cake many times. Its delicious! Its easy to make and is a treat in rhubarb season. I am not sure what fruit can replace rhubarb in this recipe. Every time I have baked this cake, its been appreciated. I have baked it for occasions, for work, for home and it just goes a treat.
Thanks for this wonderful recipe.

Oh that’s so nice to hear! Thank you for your lovely feedback 🙂 I’m so glad that you and others have enjoyed this recipe. I also think it’s a very special cake and always look forward to making it when rhubarb is in season. I have also tried it with apple and cinnamon for something a bit different – it was really delicious but, of course, doesn’t look as striking as with rhubarb decorated on top of the cake.

I think it’s fine to use normal sugar (granulated sugar) in place of caster sugar in this recipe. Caster sugar is often used in baking as it is very finely ground and, therefore, dissolves much more quickly.

When we lived in the US, I wasn’t able to find caster sugar easily so I used normal granulated sugar in baking with no detrimental effect. The same could be said for granulated sugar in Australia, although caster sugar is much more readily available there.

For cakes like this one, I don’t think it matters much whether you use caster sugar or normal granulated sugar. If you are using normal granulated sugar, just make sure that it is well creamed with the butter – it may take longer than with caster sugar.

But for recipes like meringues and pavlovas, I would definitely use caster sugar so it can dissolve more quickly without the mixture requiring too much extra beating.

You can always make your own caster sugar at home by whizzing granulated sugar a few times in the food processor – just be sure to not over-process as you might end up with a powder instead of finer granules.

I’m not sure where you see the reference to “full fat cream”? It is not listed in either recipe above. In any event, “full fat cream” is an Australian term which refers to cream which has about 40% fat. The US equivalent is “heavy cream”, and the UK equivalent is “double cream”.

Tried this two days ago but adapted it since I’d forgotten to buy butter so had to substitute with coconut oil. It worked very well! I also added some strawberry and rhubarb compote to the top for the last 10 minutes of baking, which was added some colour as my rhubarb wasn’t pink. I just blogged the recipe so I hope you won’t mind.

Hi Mara,
I’m so glad you tried this recipe! And that’s great to hear that it worked really well with coconut oil. I love reading about the changes others have made to this recipe. I can’t wait to hop over to your blog to read more 🙂